Letter: Indiana, unlike Illinois, does state parks right

Comment

The State Journal-Register

Writer

Posted Jul. 13, 2014 at 10:04 PM

Posted Jul. 13, 2014 at 10:04 PM

My wife and I recently enjoyed a camping trip to Indiana’s Turkey Run State Park.

Our neighbor was an Indiana state senator, happily grilling burgers beside his modest camping trailer. His electrified site was neatly mowed, the road well maintained, the concrete pad level. Next door was a well-lit restroom and shower house, freshly painted and cleaned daily.

An Illinois senator visiting an Illinois park presumably would have an experience similar to the one we had the last time — the very last time — we spent a night in an Illinois state park at Fort Massac.

The road was potholed, the grass high, the camping pads merely muddy gravel strewn with tree branches. It was night, and there were no functional lights in the restroom and shower house. The dilapidated screen door was blocked open, the place crawling with insects. The fixtures were filthy, and there was no toilet paper, hand soap or towels.

In the morning we visited the visitor center so my wife could use a clean restroom. No such luck. There was no toilet paper there either, and the commodes were completely blocked with paper towels that other desperate women had used as a substitute.

If it is not already obvious to you to what levels Illinois has sunk in a decade of indifferent, utterly incompetent, Chicago-oriented misgovernance, go spend a night in an Indiana park, then come stay in an Illinois park. But don’t expect to find an Illinois senator camped next to you.